Dr. Richard Weisman Retires from Admissions Team After 25 Years

After helping thousands of medical students enter the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Richard Weisman, Pharm.D., is leaving his role as associate dean for admissions and enrollment. He will remain the director of the Florida Poison Information Center and a professor in the Department of Pediatrics.

“It’s time to settle down a little bit,” Dr. Weisman said.

Dr. Weisman is stepping down after five years on the admissions committee, another five years as committee chair and 15 years as the associate dean of admissions. Dr. Weisman helped admit more than 5,000 medical students to the Miller School.

“We are proud of the diverse, exceptional classes of students who have called the Miller School of Medicine home during their formative years of medical training,” said Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School. “They are truly a credit to Dr. Weisman’s wealth of knowledge and passion for fostering the very best physicians. We are forever grateful to him.”

Helped to Implement Virtual Admissions System

During his 25 years, Dr. Weisman helped transition the Miller School from a paper-based admissions process to a fully virtual system, based in part on his experience at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Latha Chandran, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., executive dean for education and chair of the Department of Medical Education, said, “When I came to the Miller School of Medicine, one of the things that I was very impressed with was the advances that the admissions group had developed already. That is really because of the expertise that Dr. Weisman brought to our program.”

Making a difference for patients attracted Dr. Weisman to toxicology and poison control. During his training as a clinical pharmacist, he interacted with many people experiencing drug reactions and toxicities. “I developed an interest in being able to reverse that and provide these patients with the best care,” he said. Dr. Weisman also served as a national president of the American Association of Poison Centers.

In 2010, Dr. Weisman won the Miller School Faculty Citizenship Award for his dedication to community service and outreach, scholarly activities, teaching and more. Dr. Weisman was tapped into the University of Miami Iron Arrow Honor Society in 2013. In addition, he authored and edited multiple editions of Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies, a major textbook in medical toxicology.

By stepping down from his admissions role, Dr. Weisman said that he will have more time to pursue his two great passions: tennis and cooking.

“One of my goals for retirement is spending three or four months in either France or Italy to take my cooking to the next level with some of the best chefs in the world.”

Asked about his legacy at the Miller School, Dr. Weisman said, “I think that my legacy really lies in the accomplishments of the students who I’ve had an opportunity to mentor. Having them go through the admissions process, get into medical school and go out and be incredibly successful — it’s one of the greatest pleasures in the world for me.”

Tags: Department of Medical Education, Dr. Richard Weisman, Florida Poison Information Center